1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bar coding items for the purposes of automated mailing. More specifically, it relates to a manual bar coder suitable for mounting on a mailing envelope or other mail container. It should be understood from the outset that the term "mail" as used herein is used in its broadest sense and is meant to include the routing of both paper and goods from one location to another. The actual delivery of the mail may be accomplished by anything from a human carrier, as in the case of a postal service, to a series of computer controlled power conveyors in an automated warehouse. This manual bar coder will facilitate the delivery of mail by making it a simple matter to place precise, machine readable, bar codes on any item. The machine readable codes can then be used to control automatic sorters and the like.
It is contemplated that the device of this invention could be used in conjunction with almost any kind of container used for transporting any kind of goods. Railroad cars could be temporarily encoded with a device of this nature to indicate the contents and/or destinations. Shipping boxes or storage cartons could be similarly encoded in warehousing operations. Parts destined for particular points in an assembly operation could be addressed with this invention so as to facilitate their timely and accurate arrival. As a final example of the numerous potential uses for this device, it is submitted that it could be permanently attached to luggage as an attractive replacement for the currently used ugly and inconvenient bag tags. The bar coding device is reusable many times and thus may be used for several different purposes throughout it's lifetime.
Thus it can be seen that the potential fields of use for this invention are myriad and the particular preferred embodiment described herein is in no way meant to limit the use of the invention to the particular field chosen for exposition of the details of the invention.
A comprehensive listing of all the possible fields to which this invention may be applied is limited only by the imagination and is therefore not provided. Some of the more obvious applications are mentioned herein in the interest of providing a full and complete disclosure of the unique properties of this previously unknown general purpose article of manufacture. It is to be understood from the outset that the scope of this invention is not limited to these fields or to the specific examples of potential uses presented hereinafter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the delivery of mail and products it has become important to maintain some type of accurate information control on the destiny of large amounts of items. An early attempt at this was the institution of the Zip Code System of addressing used by the United States Postal Service. Zip Codes consist of a unique five, nine, or eleven digit Arabic numeral for each postal zone in the nation. Zip Codes were easy to read manually by sorting personnel and provided a significant improvement in the efficiency of mail delivery. To achieve further improvement it has been determined that some sort of machine readable code would be superior. Although fully flexible optical character recognition machines are under development that will read normal typed or handwritten characters, such as zip codes, the time when such machines will be inexpensive and reliable appears to be far in the future.
As an interim step to full and reliable optical character recognition or "reading" machines, there have been developed bar codes. A bar code is a series of bars of varying heights and/or widths which encode information. Today's consumer is literally besieged with bar codes. They are carried on, or attached to, practically every item sold in the marketplace. A limitation of the use of bar codes for the routing of mail is that the bars must be precisely positioned on the envelope and be of consistent size and shape and sufficient opacity in order to be properly read by the scanning machine. Therefore, there is not a human alive that can sit down and write a bar code. Bar codes are generated by machines for machines. The closest thing to a bar code writer known in the prior art is a hand held computer printer which will print out a bar code strip upon entry of the information into a keyboard.
The prior art leaves a desperate need for a device, useable by the average person, which will create or "write" accurate machine readable bar codes with equipment as simple as a pencil. My invention addresses this void by providing just such a unique and simple bar code writer useable by anyone. A search of the prior art in this field was conducted at the United States Patent Office. The prior patents discovered are discussed below. As will be seen, the simplicity and effectiveness of my invention is not rivaled in the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,222, issued to Legault on Nov. 12, 1991, teaches the use of pressure-transferrable, "rub-off" bar codes for envelopes for the purpose of utilizing optical bar code recognition machinery in the routing of mail. The critical problem of precision spacing between individual character codes is not addressed except to state the user is to align the edge of the sheet with the edge of the envelope. Each rub-off sheet is useable but once. By contrast, the device of the instant invention automatically provides a precisely positioned, preprinted, bar code and the device may be used over and over as many times as desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,164, issued to Aaron on Feb. 23, 1993, shows a hand-held electronic calculator and printer for printing postal bar codes from keyboard input. Each printed bar code is useable but one time and the device requires an electrical power source for operation. By contrast, the device of the instant invention is reusable many times and requires no external power source, being both manually powered and operated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,624, issued to Schlich on Feb. 19, 1991, shows a two way bar code window envelope to facilitate mass and return mailings. The bar codes for both the outgoing and return mailings must be preprinted by a computer at the source. No manual creation of a bar code is possible. By contrast, the device of the instant invention provides for the manual generation of precision bar codes by an unsophisticated user at the sending site without the use of computer equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,061, issued to Buescher on Dec. 8, 1992, shows another two-way bar code window envelope to facilitate mass and return mailings. The bar codes for both the outgoing and return mailings must be preprinted by a computer at the source. No manual creation of a bar code is possible. By contrast, the device of the instant invention provides for the manual generation of precision bar codes by using nothing more than a pointed instrument, such as a pencil, at the sending site without the use of computer equipment.
It will be noted that all the prior art devices require a computer and printer combination to generate the bar codes for each item routed. In this sense they are not manual bar coders as is my invention which manually sets up a precision bar code each time it is used and which may be used a multiple number of times to route a multiple number of items. Also, it is noted the prior art devices are all directed toward the addressing of paper mail. My device, however, being easily attachable to any container or product, is useful for addressing or identifying a much broader spectrum of goods. As will be seen, the simplicity and effectiveness of my invention is not rivaled in the prior art.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.